Day 75: Another appointment with the surgeon

So for those of you that are preparing for your upcoming jaw surgery, I will tell you that looking back the worst of it all came and went so quickly. I am now 2 months and one week post surgery, and I can do and eat pretty much anything. My only limitations at this point is biting into hard or tough foods, chewing to much causes a few issues, and opening my mouth wide.

I had an appointment with my surgeon this past Thursday, he said my swelling looked to be almost completely gone and was impressed with my bite. It hasn't shifted or moved and all looks good. Which is good news, as when your teeth are moving, and your bite seems to be changing constantly due to braces I worry daily that something is going wrong. Like oh no my teeth don't touch like they did yesterday. It's all part of the process I guess. It's good to hear that things look good.

He gave me another exercise to do to help stretch the muscles, as they are still extremely tight. He told me to place the tip of my tongue behind the top front teeth and open until you can feel the pull and hold the stretch. Also to continue prying my jaw open. He is much stronger than me or maybe I am more afraid of hurting myself, because when I pry my jaws apart it doesn't hurt nearly as bad as when he does it. I will have to get more forceful as my end goal he said is 2 knuckles wide, and I am shooting for full range by November. That gives me 5 weeks. I can do this. I also bought tongue depressors and I stacked them all together and put them in and hold it there feeling the strain. 

I was having problems with my right jaw hurting and feeling an uncomfortable pain when yawning and things that required my mouth to open slowly or over and over again. My surgeon looked at that, and from my description and where the pain was coming from it was my lower jaw muscle. He said that my right side wasn't opening as far as the left and felt much tighter. So to continue with the exercises, and not to baby the jaw. He said I can work out like normal, but in moderation, and I can chew/eat anything in moderation. Though some things would be hard due to my mouth opening being one knuckle. I had sushi last night, and I could not fit it in my mouth so I had to cut it in half and squish it down. It was messy. So glad we brought it home! : )

It also seems like that was my last appointment with the Surgeon he said I am now in the hands of my orthodontist, and to message him with updates with the jaw opening. Of course if I have any issues I will be going back to him, but he said at this point everything looks good, and I just need to work my jaw more. I am free to do whatever I feel up to doing.

I had an orthodontist appointment today, he was impressed with the way my teeth were moving and I was told to only wear my bands every other night! Yipee, a little more freedom. I forgot to ask him if he has an idea of how much longer I will be wearing these wonderful braces for. I think I am afraid to hear the answer so I don't ask. I would LOVE to have them off by Christmas, that will be the best Christmas present ever. 

Numbness is slowly going away. It's weird I don't feel a ton of tingles any more but the area feels more normal. I can feel somethings better than others on that area. For instance warm things I can't really feel, but cold things I slightly feel. I don't care, as feeling anything on the chin at this point gives me hope that I will gain full feeling in my chin.

Pictures from the last few days:

I still see swelling under my bottom lip. 

I make this face constantly to help break up scar tissue.